710.1 

StZb 


The  person  charging  this  material  is  re¬ 
sponsible  for  its  return  on  or  before  the 
Latest  Date  stamped  below. 

Theft,  mutilation,  and  underlining  of  books 
are  reasons  for  disciplinary  action  and  may 
result  in  dismissal  from  the  University. 

University  of  Illinois  Library 


# 


4. 


* 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2018  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign  Alternates 


https://archive.org/details/bostonsgrowthbir00stat_0 


LanAe 
Li  Wad 


pe 


BOSTON’S  GROWTH 

A  BIRD’S-EYE  VIEW  OF  BOSTON’S  INCREASE 
IN  TERRITORY  AND  POPULATION 
FROM  ITS  BEGINNING  TO 
THE  PRESENT 


PRINTED  FOR  THE 
STATE  STREET  TRUST  COMPANY 
BOSTON,  MASS. 


COPYRIGHTED 
19  10  BY  THE 
STATE  STREET 
TRUST  COMPANY 


COMPILED,  ARRANGED 
AND  PRINTED  UNDER 
THE  DIRECTION  OF  THE 
WALTON  ADVERTISING 
AND  PRINTING  COMPANY 
BOSTON,  MASS. 


J 

) 

l 


The  state  street  trust  company 

takes  pleasure  in  presenting  its  fifth  monograph 
upon  a  subject  relating  to  Boston’s  History. 

It  gives,  with  the  aid  of  maps,  reproductions  of  old 
prints,  and  a  brief  explanatory  text,  a  bird’s-eye  view 
of  what  Boston  was  territorially  and  how  it  has  at¬ 
tained  its  present  size.  It  is  impossible  to  deal  fully 
with  the  subject  within  the  limits  of  so  small  a  book. 
To  tell  the  story  in  detail  would  require  volumes. 

This  brief  presentation  shows,  however,  many  of 
the  salient  features  of  the  growth  of  the  shore  line 
of  Boston  proper  and  incidentally  summarizes  what 
has  been  accomplished  in  the  districts  beyond  the  - 
peninsula.  It  also  gives  the  population  of  the  city 
at  various  periods. 

The  subject  is  of  much  interest  because  of  the 
consideration  of  adding  further  territory  to  the  city, 
so  that  it  will  truly  become  a  Greater  Boston. 

Thanks  are  due  to  Mr.  Edward  W.  McGlenen,  City 
Registrar,  and  to  Dr.  Edward  M.  Hartwell,  City  Stat¬ 
istician,  for  their  courtesy  in  facilitating  the  preparation 
of  this  work,  and  also  to  Mr.  Charles  E.  Goodspeed 
for  permission  to  use  the  Park  Square  print. 


l 


/ 


[3] 


vA.n'ujna 

UeX 


rsISitSSi 


l|)JOM*Ut^ 


\iiwy>/*g- 1 


jv+'/rr  *; 


PO 


Vh 


£ 

'p 

(3 

Uh 

o 

PX 

c 


cO 

(X 


*0  -o 


U  Q 


S  V 
£  Jp  ^  .5?  . 

§  8  -g  tj  a  4 

III s  4 s  ^ 4 


fill 


o  ^ 


o  o 


<  m 


>>.  .  .  . 

v.  >  v!  't; 

O'O  %  |  SO 

1^-Saalal 

2 4 44 $4 $5 


BOSTON’S  GROWTH 


SINCE  the  days  of  William  Blackstone,  the  first 
white  inhabitant,  Boston  has  undergone  many 
changes,  but  none  has  been  greater  than  that  in 
its  shape  and  size.  Possibly  no  city  in  the  world  has 
altered  more  the  physical  conformation  of  its  site. 

By  levelling  and  filling,  the  original  peninsula,  upon 
which  William  Blackstone  settled  in  the  spring  of 
1625  and  to  which  in  the  summer  of  1680  he  invited 
John  Winthrop  and  his  companions,  has  almost 
trebled  in  area,  and  has  so  changed  its  water  front 
that  hardly  a  foot  of  the  shore  line  of  the  old  Boston 
remains.  One  may  obtain  an  idea  of  how  extensive 
the  filling  has  been  from  the  fact  that  the  original 
peninsula,  from  the  neck  north  of  the  line  of  Dover 
Street,  comprised  four  hundred  and  eighty-seven  acres, 
and  from  the  Roxburv  line  to  Dover  Street  two  hun- 

9s 

dred  and  ninety-six  acres,  making  a  total  area  of 
seven  hundred  and  eighty-three  acres  for  Boston 
proper,  as  it  was  before  any  filling  of  the  coves  and 
creeks  which  indented  its  shores.  The  area  has  since 
been  increased  by  the  addition  of  one  thousand  one 
hundred  and  twenty-one  acres  of  filled  land  to  one 
thousand  nine  hundred  and  four  acres. 

[5] 


BOSTON’S 


GROWTH 


In  1634  William  Blackstone  sold  for  £30  that  part 
of  his  farm  now  known  as  the  Boston  Common,  then 
about  fifty  acres,  and  relinquished  any  rights  that  he 
had  in  the  original  peninsula  to  the  town,  consisting  of 
John  Winthrop  and  others  who  had  accepted  William 
Blackstone’s  invitation  to  settle  upon  his  peninsula. 
The  value  of  real  estate  on  April  1,  1910,  for  the  city 
of  Boston  was  $1,118,989,100. 

CONFORMATION  OF  THE  ORIGINAL 

PENINSULA.  I 

A  glance  at  Boston  as  it  was  is  necessary  to  appre¬ 
ciate  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  filling  and  levelling 
process  that  has  so  transformed  the  city.  And  it  is 
easy  from  the  journals  of  the  early  visitors,  so  full  of 
descriptions  of  Boston  are  they,  to  picture  the  peninsula 
as  it  was  when  William  Blackstone  lived  in  his  small 
cottage  about  where  the  Puritan  Club  now  stands  on 
Beacon  Street  and  near  that  projection  of  land  on  the 
Charles  River  subsequently  known  as  Blackstone  Point. 

The  description  will  also  present  Old  Boston  as  it 
was  during  the  days  of  John  Winthrop  and  the  early 
settlers  and  almost  up  to  the  beginning  of  the  nine¬ 
teenth  century,  because  it  was  not  until  about  1804 
that  extensive  fillings  began.  Although  it  is  impossi¬ 
ble  to  ascertain  why  the  Indians  called  the  peninsula 
Shawmut,  it  is  known  that  the  English  at  Charles¬ 
town,  whence  Winthrop  and  his  companions  came, 

[6] 


BOSTON’S 


GROWTH 


called  it  Tramount,  or  Trimount,  because  of  the  three 
sharp  peaks  of  Tramount,  or  Beacon  Hill,  which  sil¬ 
houetted  themselves  against  the  sky.  It  received  the 
name  Boston  by  an  act  of  the  General  Court,  Septem¬ 
ber  7,  1630,  and  was  so  called  in  honor  of  Boston,  St. 
Botolph’s  Town,  England,  whence  many  of  the  settlers 
came. 

As  described  by  one  of  the  earliest  visitors: — 

“Boston  is  two  miles  N.  E.  of  Roxburv.  His  sit- 
uation  is  very  pleasant,  being  a  peninsula  hemmed  in 
on'  the  south  side  by  the  Bay  of  Roxbury  and  on  the 
north  side  with  the  Charles  River,  the  marshes  on 
the  back  side  being  not  half  a  quarter  of  a  mile  over; 
so  that  a  little  fencing  will  secure  their  cattle  from  the 
wolves;  it  being  a  neck  and  bare  of  wood  they  are  not 
troubled  with  these  great  annoyances,  wolves,  rattle 
snakes  and  mosquitoes.  This  neck  of  land  is  not 
over  four  miles  in  compass,  in  form  almost  square, 
having  on  the  south  side  a  great  broad  hill  [Fort  Hill], 
whereon  is  planted  a  fort  which  can  command  any 
ship  as  she  sails  into  the  harbor.  On  the  north  side 
is  another  hill  [Copp’s  Hill]  equal  in  bigness,  whereon 
stands  a  windmill.  To  the  northwest  is  a  high  moun¬ 
tain  with  three  little  rising  hills  on  the  top  of  it, 
wherefore  it  is  called  the  Tramount  [Beacon  Hill]. 
This  town,  although  it  be  neither  the  greatest  nor  the 
richest,  yet  is  the  most  noted  and  frequented,  being 
the  centre  of  the  plantations  where  the  monthly  courts 
are  kept.” 


[7] 


BOSTON’S 


GROWTH 


ISLANDS  OF  BOSTON. 

Hills,  dales,  and  lowlands  covered  the  peninsula. 
At  extreme  high  tides  it  became  an  island  by  the  sea 
washing  over  Boston  Neck,  the  narrow  strip  of  land 
that  connected  it  with  the  mainland  at  Roxbury. 
At  the  head  of  the  peninsula  stood  Copp’s  Hill.  Fur¬ 
ther  to  the  west  was  Trimount,  with  the  three  peaks 
later  known  as  Mount  Vernon,  Centry  or  Beacon, 
and  Cotton  or  Pemberton  Hills.  South  of  Copp’s  Hill 
and  overlooking  the  sea  was  Fort  Hill,  early  crowned 
with  a  fort  for  protection  against  invaders.  Numer¬ 
ous  brooks  and  creeks,  fed  by  the  springs  of  the 
peninsula,  indented  its  shores.  Along  the  line  of  the 
present  Blackstone  Street  flowed  Mill  Creek,  connect¬ 
ing  what  was  subsequently  the  Mill  Pond,  or  North. 
Cove,  with  the  Town,  or  Great,  Cove,  both  now  filled 
in.  It  made  Copp’s  Hill  an  island.  Another  creek  ran 
into  the  heart  of  the  peninsula  to  about  where  Federal 
and  Franklin  Streets  now  are. 

A  century  and  a  half  after  its  settlement  so  little  had 
the  conformation  of  Boston  changed  that  the  British 
were  able  to  dig  a  moat  through  the  neck  in  front  of 
their  fortifications  at  Castle  Street.  The  most  pre¬ 
cipitous  part  of  Boston’s  shore  line  was  in  the  neigh¬ 
borhood  of  Beacon  Hill,  and  between  it  and  the 
Charles  River  was  a  spur  known  as  West  Hill  which 
formed  part  of  Blackstone  Point.  The  greatest  of 
the  indentations  of  Boston  was  the  marsh  land  now 

[8] 


BOSTON’S 


GROWTH 


covered  by  the  Back  Bay,  which  extended  approxi¬ 
mately  from  a  point  on  Beacon  Street  between  Charles 
and  Spruce  Streets  to  Commonwealth  Avenue  and 
Beacon  Street  in  one  direction  and  from  the  Charles 
River  to  Washington  and  Dover  Streets  in  another.  It 
comprised  in  all  about  five  hundred  and  seventy  acres. 

WEST,  NORTH,  AND  TOWN  COVES. 

The  West  Cove  ran  along  the  northwestern  part  of 
the  peninsula,  from  Poplar  and  Brighton  Streets  to 
Revere  and  Charles  Streets,  comprising  about  eighty 
acres.  At  the  northern  end  of  the  peninsula,  running 
well  into  the  mainland,  from  the  Charlestown  Bridge 
and  Prince  Street  to  Barton  and  Lowell  Streets,  was 
the  Mill  Pond,  or  North  Cove,  containing  seventy 
acres.  The  northern  shore  of  the  North  Cove  in¬ 
cluded  all  of  what  is  now  Hay  market  Square,  covered 
Endicott  Street,  Thacher  Street,  North  Margin,  South 
Margin,  and  Lowell  Streets,  and  penetrated  to  the 
rear  of  Baldwin  Place  almost  to  Salem  Street  and  to 
Sudbury  at  Portland  Street.  Separating  it  from  the 
bay  was  the  Causeway,  a  foot-path  used  by  the 
Indians  on  a  more  elevated  part  of  the  marsh  and 
which  a  Mr.  Crabtree  early  raised  and  widened  into  a 
dam. 

The  Town  Cove  was  on  the  east,  and  was  known 
also  as  the  Great  Cove.  It  contained  one  hundred 
and  twelve  acres,  and  extended  from  about  the  junc- 

[9] 


BOSTON’S 


G  R  O  W  T  II 


tion  of  Commercial  and  Salutation  Streets  to  Belcher’s 
Lane.  It  was  the  port  of  the  early  colonial  town, 
wherein  were  gathered  most  of  the  shipping  interests. 
The  Town  Cove  lay  between  the  headlands  of  Copp’s 
and  Fort  Hills,  reaching  inland  to  Franklin  and  Fed¬ 
eral  Streets,  to  Kilby  and  State  Streets,  and  to  Dock 
Square.  South  of  the  Town  Cove  and  comprising 
one  hundred  and  eighty-six  acres  was  the  South  Cove, 
a  part  of  Roxbury  Bay,  and  extending  from  about 
the  corner  of  Atlantic  Avenue  and  East  Street  to  near 
the  junction  of  Albany  and  East  Brookline  Streets. 
In  a  broad  way,  it  was  bounded  on  the  north  by 
Windmill  Point  and  on  the  south  by  the  head  of  the 
bridge  to  South  Boston. 

ORIGINAL  SHORE  LINE. 

As  accurately  as  it  can  be  traced  from  the  old  maps, 
the  shore  line  of  the  original  peninsula  would  follow 
or  touch  these  streets  of  the  Boston  of  to-day,  begin¬ 
ning  at  Boston  Neck  where  Dover  Street  now  crosses 
Washington  Street.  At  this  part  of  the  peninsula  the 
high  tides  often  overflowed  from  the  South  Cove,  or 
Roxbury  Bay,  to  the  marshes  of  what  is  now  Back 
Bay : — 

Following  the  neck,  the  shore  line  ran  between 
Washington  Street  and  Harrison  Avenue,  finally  touch¬ 
ing  Washington  Street  where  Washington  now  crosses 
Kneeland,  and  then,  swinging  to  the  east,  crossed 

[10] 


BOSTON’S 


GROWTH 


Beach  at  Harrison  Avenue.  The  bay  washed  the 
Beach  Street  end  of  Oxford,  Edinboro,  Kingston, 
Lincoln,  and  South  Streets,  and  covered  East  Street 
to  the  corner  of  Atlantic  Avenue. 

Turning  northerly,  the  beach  line  followed  Atlantic 
Avenue  to  the  comer  of  Summer  Street,  and  then  ran 
easterly  between  Atlantic  Avenue  and  Purchase  Street, 
crossing  Gridley  and  Pearl  Streets  at  Purchase  Street, 
so  that  the  site  now  occupied  by  the  South  Station 
was  originally  wholly  under  water,  as  well  as  much  of 
the  adjacent  territory. 

Going  east  again,  the  line  of  shore  touched  Atlantic 
Avenue  at  Oliver  Street,  and  then  followed  Atlantic 
Avenue  to  Belcher  Lane.  The  shore  then  went 
northwest  along  the  line  of  Broad  Street  to  Battery  - 
march  Street  and  curved  sharply  to  the  south,  cross¬ 
ing  Oliver,  Pearl,  and  Congress  Streets,  and  reaching 
Franklin  at  the  corner  of  Federal.  It  then  curved 
sharply  to  the  north,  crossed  Federal,  Congress,  and 
Milk  Streets,  and  touched  Post-office  Square  along 
Congress  Street.  The  beach  line  swung  across  Water 
Street,  where  the  Post-office  and  National  Shawmut 
Bank  now  stand  at  the  corner  of  Water  and  Congress 
Streets,  and,  still  curving  to  the  east,  reached  the  pres¬ 
ent  line  of  Kilby  Street,  along  which  it  then  went 
northerly. 

The  bay  covered  State,  then  Market  Street,  at  the 
corner  of  Kilby,  and  thence  the  beach  line  followed 
Merchants  Row  to  Dock  Square.  It  is  evident, 

[11] 


BOSTON’S 


GROWTH 


therefore,  that  Oliver  Street  on  one  side  and  Kilby 
on  the  other  marked  the  beginning  of  a  long,  narrow 
indentation  where  the  bay  reached  to  Franklin  and 
Federal  Streets.  Orange  Avenue,  Dock  Square,  Elm 
and  Blackstone  Streets,  Salt  Lane,  North  Centre 
Street,  and  North  Street  were  all  washed  by  the 
bay. 

Leaving  the  line  of  North  Street  at  Ferry,  the  beach 
bent  westerly,  following  Commercial  Street  to  Charles¬ 
town  Bridge  and  Washington  Street  North.  Then 
the  shore  made  a  curve  to  the  east,  almost  touching 
Prince  and  Salem  Streets  and  reaching  Blackstone 
and  Union  Streets  again  at  Hay  market  Square.  It 
then  crossed  Friend  and  Portland  Streets  at  Sudbury, 
and  reached  Bowker  Street.  Here  the  bay  went 
westward  to  Lyman  Street,  covering  Merrimac  and 
South  Margin  Streets,  and  thence  along  the  line  of 
Wall  Street,  crossing  Minot,  Willard,  and  Barton 
Streets,  to  Leverett.  This  sweep  from  the  Charles¬ 
town  Bridge  to  Barton  Street  made  the  North  Cove, 
also  known  as  the  Mill  Pond. 

Brighton  Street  marked  another  curve  of  the  bay 
line,  which  turned  here  to  the  southeast,  covering  most 
of  the  land  where  the  Massachusetts  General  Hospital 
now  is,  and  also  the  line  of  Anderson  Street.  It 
crossed  Cambridge  Street  at  the  corner  of  Anderson, 
and  then,  bearing  west  again,  touched  Charles  Street. 
Turning  east,  it  crossed  Branch  Street  and  reached 
the  Boston  Common,  covering  the  southwesterly  part 

[12] 


VIEW  OF  THE  LONG  WHARF  AND  PART  OF  THE  HARBOUR  OF  BOSTON,  IN  NEW  ENGLAND.  AMERICA. 

(From  a  sketch  made  in  1764  by  Richard  Byron,  grand-uncle  of  the  poet.) 


BOSTON’S 


GROWTH 


of  the  Common  and  all  of  Charles  Street  to  Park 
Square  and  all  of  what  is  now  the  Public  Garden. 

From  Park  Square  the  shore  line  curved  to  the 
east  between  Pleasant  and  Church  Streets,  crossed 
Shawmut  Avenue  at  Osborn  Place,  and  touched  the 
neck  again  at  Cherry  and  Washington  Streets,  and 
followed  closely  the  line  of  Washington  Street  to 
Dover. 


ORIGINAL  LIMITS. 

As  the  original  peninsula  early  proved  inadequate 
to  meet  the  needs  of  the  settlers  for  tillage,  pasturage, 
and  wood,  a  desultory  filling  of  the  creeks  and  shores 
of  the  marshes  by  individuals  soon  began,  but  there 
is  no  clear  record  of  the  date  and  the  extent  of  these 
early  reclamations. 

The  earliest  fillings  began  at  the  head  of  the  creeks 
and  the  coves,  and  one  of  the  first  to  be  reclaimed  was 
the  land  at  the  head  of  the  creek  where  Post-office 
Square  now  is.  Reclamation  also  took  place  about 
Dock  Square. 

Boston  also  reached  out  for  outlying  territory,  and 
in  the  colonial  period  exercised  jurisdiction  over  some 
seventy  thousand  acres,  while  its  present  limits  com¬ 
prise  but  twenty-seven  thousand  three  hundred  and 
sixty-four  acres,  including  flats  and  water.  If  the 
movement  for  the  purpose  of  consolidating  adjoining 
towns  into  Greater  Boston  is  successful,  the  greater 
area  will  be  far  less  than  Boston’s  original  limits. 

[14] 


BOSTON’S 


GROWTH 


To  the  town  were  early  granted  many  of  the  islands 
in  the  harbor,  Muddy  River,  now  Brookline,  Mount 
Wollaston,  Chelsea,  the  land  east  of  the  Neponset 
River,  afterward  incorporated  as  Braintree,  Ran¬ 
dolph  and  Quincy,  and  territory  granted  as  follows 
by  the  General  Court: — 

One  thousand  acres,  October  16,  1660,  for  the  use  of 
a  free  school,  laid  out  in  the  wilderness,  or  north  of 
the  Merrimac  River,  incorporated  in  Haverhill,  1664; 
three  townships  six  miles  square,  or  sixty-nine  thou¬ 
sand  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  in  all,  June  27 , 
1735,  in  abatement  of  the  province  tax  (these  townships 
later  became  the  towns  of  Charlemont,  Colerain,  and 
Pittsfield,  Boston  selling  its  interest  in  them  June 
30,  1736);  a  township  of  land  in  Maine,  containing 
twenty-three  thousand  and  forty  acres,  was  granted 
on  June  26,  1794,  to  build  a  public  hospital,  and  was 
sold  by  the  city,  April  6,  1833,  for  $4,200;  Muddy 
River  was  set  off  as  Brookline  on  November  13,  1705; 
Rumney  Marsh,  as  the  town  of  Chelsea,  January  8, 
1739.  The  principal  dates  at  which  the  towns  were 
annexed  or  set  off  from  Boston  were  as  follows: — 

November  13,  1705,  part  of  Boston  called  Muddy 
River  established  as  Brookline. 

January  10,  1739,  part  of  Boston  called  Winnissimet, 
Rumney  Marsh,  and  Pullen  Point  (excepting  Nod¬ 
dle’s  Island  and  Hog  Island)  established  as  Chelsea. 
March  6,  1804,  part  of  Dorchester  known  as  Dor¬ 
chester  Neck  or  South  Boston  annexed  to  Boston. 

[15] 


VIEW  OF  THE  SOUTH  END  OF  BOSTON,  IN  NEW  ENGLAND,  AMERICA,  AND  OK 
THE  NECK.  TAKEN  FROM  THE  HILL  NORTHEAST  OF  THE  COMMON. 

(From  a  sketch  by  R.  Byron.) 


VIEW  OF  THE  NORTH  END  OF  BOSTON,  IN  NEW  ENGLAND,  AMERICA,  ANl> 
OF  CHARLESTOWN,  TAKEN  FROM  THE  HILL  WESTWARD  OF  THE  BEACON. 

(From  a  sketch  by  R.  Byron.) 


BOSTONS 


GROWTH 


February  23,  1822,  Boston  incorporated  as  a  city. 
March  4,  1822,  the  act  accepted  by  the  town. 

May  21,  1855,  part  of  Dorchester  known  as  Washing¬ 
ton  Village  annexed  to  Boston. 

January  5,  1868,  Roxbury  annexed  to  Boston. 

January  3,  1870,  Dorchester  annexed. 

January  5,  1874,  acts  of  annexation  to  Boston  of 
Charlestown,  Brighton,  and  West  Roxbury  took 
effect. 

April  13,  1894,  bounds  between  Boston  and  Brookline 
established. 

OLD  MILL-DAMS  AND  THE  BARRICADO. 

The  outlying  land  did,  however,  little  to  help  the 
lack  of  space  on  the  peninsula  proper,  so  that  the  fill¬ 
ing  in  of  the  coves  early  began.  This  work  was  ulti¬ 
mately  made  much  easier  by  the  construction  of  numer¬ 
ous  mill-dams,  which  were  early  erected  to  conserve 
the  tidal  water  for  grinding  purposes.  The  Barricado 
along  the  front  of  the  Town  Cove,  which  later  be¬ 
came  the  line  of  the  old  town  wharves,  helped  in  the 
filling  of  the  Town  Cove. 

This  was  a  line  of  piles  and  stone-work  built  for 
defence  against  the  Dutch,  and  ran  from  Scarlet’s 
Wharf  at  the  foot  of  Copp’s  Hill  to  South  Battery 
at  the  foot  of  Fort  Hill,  with  openings  for  vessels  to 
pass.  It  enclosed  and  protected  the  Town  Cove  in 
which  the  shipping  lay.  Atlantic  Avenue  follows  now 
substantially  the  line  of  the  Barricado. 

To-day  the  greater  part  of  the  commercial  section, 

[17] 


BOSTON’S 


GROWTH 


the  residential  section  in  the  Back  Bay,  the  largest 
portion  of  the  railroad  terminals,  most  of  the  great 
warehouses  and  wholesale  business,  and  all  of  the 
wharves  of  Boston  proper  are  on  filled  land.  Much 
of  the  expansion  of  East  and  South  Boston  and 
Charlestown  is  also  due  to  filling,  and  the  growth  of 
Boston  in  the  future  will  be  upon  flats  and  marshes 
which  are  still  to  be  filled. 

COLONIAL  ORDINANCE  INCENTIVE  TO 

RECLAMATION. 

An  old  colonial  order,  reading  that  in  all  creeks, 
coves,  and  other  places  about  and  upon  salt  water, 
where  the  sea  ebbs  and  flows,  the  proprietor  of  the 
land  adjoining  shall  have  propriety  to  the  low  water 
mark,”  was  responsible  for  the  early  individual  effort 
to  extend  the  shore  by  a  reclamation  of  the  marsh 
land.  It  offered  an  incentive  in  the  shape  of  prop¬ 
erty  rights  to  constant  extension  of  the  low-water 
mark,  and  as  early  as  July  26,  1641,  Robert  Wing 
was  paid  twenty  bushels  of  corn  by  the  town  for 
looking  to  the  low- water  mark  on  Centry  Hill.  To 
this  old  ordinance  go  back  the  titles  of  many  of  the 
land  corporations  of  Boston. 

The  earliest  reference  to  a  filling  is  to  be  found  in 
an  ordinance  supposed  to  have  been  passed  by  John 
Winthrop  and  nine  others  on  March  7,  1634,  which  di¬ 
rected  that  a  beacon  be  placed  to  give  notice  of  stones 

[18] 


DURING  THE  MAYORALTY  OF  THE  FIRST  JOSIAH  QUINCY. 


b 

5 


Z 

o 

IT. 

o 


> 

> 

o 

z 

c 

G 

G 

H 

O 


O 

o 

C/i 


G 

O 

O 


© 

G 

P-4 

z 

o 

*< 


> 

r 

r 


> 

G 

G 

G 


G 

G 

Z 


30 

<4. 


X 

i-b 

cr. 


X 

H 

% 

p- 

0 

a 

n 

p 

n 

q 

X 

BOSTON’S 


GROWTH 


and  logs  that  might  be  laid  near  the  landing-places, 
the  penalty  for  the  violation  being  damages  for  any 
vessel  injured  thereon. 


CONSTRUCTION  OF  LONG  WHARF. 

The  first  real  enlargement  of  the  city  was  the  ex¬ 
tension  of  State  Street  by  the  construction  of  Long 
Wharf  in  1709-10.  Oliver  Noves  and  others  were 
granted  the  necessary  permission  to  build  the  wharf 
with  sufficient  common  sewer  from  Andrew  Fan- 
euil’s  Corner  to  the  low-water  mark.  As  finally  com¬ 
pleted,  the  pier  was  of  the  width  of  Market,  or  Water, 
subsequently  known  as  King  Street,  and  finally  called 
State  Street,  being  thirty  feet  wide  and  having  a  space 
of  sixteen  feet  in  the  middle  for  boats  to  load  and 
unload  upon,  while  the  sea-wall  end  was  reserved  for 
a  battery,  should  the  town  have  cause  to  build  one. 

The  original  name  was  Boston  Pier.  A  foreign 
visitor  described  it  as  44 a  noble  pier  eighteen  hundred 
to  two  thousand  feet  long  with  a  row  of  warehouses 
on  the  north  side  for  the  use  of  merchants,”  and  said 
that  it  extended  far  enough  into  the  bay  to  admit  of 
the  unloading  of  ships  of  greatest  burden.  The  con¬ 
struction  of  warehouses  and  shops  on  the  north  side 
of  the  wharf  some  time  prior  to  1722  made  the  pier 
a  part  of  King  Street.  In  fact,  buildings  on  the  pier 
were  numbered  before  such  was  the  general  custom 
in  the  town. 


[20] 


SHOWING  THE  CONDITIONS  THAT  WERE  OVERCOME  BY  THE  RECLAMATION  OF  THE  BACK  BAY. 


A 


4? 


£ 


296  Acres 


ki 


i\  SOUTH 


C  H  A 


BA&K  BAY 


Ch> 


1(^57-1894 


^  5  70  Acres 


^  \  Present  Area,  north  of'  Lim 
\  Dover  St.  andb  Dover  St.  ex, 
<  •  tenclect  12,37.  Acres. 

**  \ 


SOUTH  COVE  1806 

186  Acres 


BAY 


Ci 


SOUTH 


MAP  OF  THE  ORIGINAL  PENINSULA 


RIVER 


Total  Land  Area  of  Boston  Proper  in  1630-7 83  Acres 

1900-1876  “ 
1910-1904  “ 


<<  << 


((  (< 


TON 


S  AND  PRESENT  SHORE  LINE. 


BOSTON’S 


GROWTH 


RECLAMATION  OF  THE  BACK  BAY. 

The  most  lucrative  public  improvement  was  the 
reclamation  of  the  Back  Bay  section  and  its  transfor¬ 
mation  into  one  of  the  most  beautiful  residential 
sections  in  America.  As  in  the  case  of  other  improve¬ 
ments,  water  power  for  mills  was  the  purpose  of  its 
originator,  Uriah  Cotting,  from  whose  persistence  and 
executive  ability  the  enterprise  sprang,  but  at  no  time 
did  he  have  in  mind  the  ultimate  use  of  the  Back 
Bay  as  a  site  for  residences.  He  organized  and 
incorporated  in  1814  the  Boston  &  Roxbury  Mill 
Corporation.  By  June  14,  1814,  work  had  begun  on 
the  main  dam.  At  that  time  the  Back  Bay  was  an 
expanse  of  water  and  marsh  that  extended  from  the 
foot  of  the  Common  to  the  uplands  of  Brookline 
and  from  the  Charles  River  to  the  Boston  Neck, 
and  Boston’s  only  connection  with  the  mainland  was 
by  Boston  Neck  and  Roxbury. 

Under  its  charter  the  corporation  was  empowered 
to  build  a  dam  known  as  the  Mill  Dam,  following 
what  is  practically  now  the  present  line  of  Beacon 
Street,  from  the  end  of  Beacon  Street  at  Charles,  to 
Se wall’s  Point  at  Brookline;  and  also  a  cross  dam 
along  what  is  now  the  present  line  of  Brookline  Avenue 
from  the  main  dam  to  Gravelly  Point  in  Roxbury. 
Permission  was  also  given  to  construct  roadways  on 
each  dam  and  to  levy  tolls  for  their  use.  A  further 
provision  granted  permission  to  build  a  road  from  the 

[24] 


VIEW  SOUTHWEST  OP  THE  BACK  BAY  FROM  THE  CUPOLA  OF  THE  STATE  HOUSE,  LOOKING  TOWARDS 

ROXBURY,  FROM  A  PHOTOGRAPH  TAKEN  IN  1857, 


BOSTON’S 


GKO  W  T  H 


western  end  of  the  main  dam  to  Punch  Bowl  Road' 
Tavern  in  Brookline.  The  avenue  thus  opened  along 
the  Mill  Dam  was  known  as  Western  Avenue,  and 
later  became  the  continuation  of  Beacon  Street. 

Authority  was  granted  to  confine  the  tide-water 
within  the  area  of  the  Mill  Dam,  to  erect  mills  to 
run  by  water  power,  or  to  lease  water  power.  The 
company  had  the  right  to  confine  the  flood-tide  within 
the  area  of  the  dam  and  to  discharge  into  a  so-called 
empty  basin,  which  was  to  be  drained  at  ebb-tide. 
The  construction  of  this  Mill  Dam  furnishes  the  first 
record  of  the  importation  of  Irish  laborers.  Parker 
Hill  quarry  furnished  the  stone.  The  opening  of  the 
dam  was  made  of  considerable  civic  importance,  there 
being  a  parade  and  reception  by  the  city  fathers. 

The  flood  basin  really  comprised  the  whole  of  the 
Back  Bay  from  Punch  Bowl  Road,  now  Brookline 
Avenue,  to  the  Public  Garden.  The  purpose  of  the 
corporation  originally  was  to  cut  a  channel  through 
the  Boston  Neck  to  drain  the  Back  Bay  into  the  South 
Bay.  A  channel  was  to  be  cut  at  Boston  Neck  about 
where  the  present  Dover  Street  Bridge  is,  and  a  dam 
built,  which  would  have  completed  the  entire  plan. 
Tidal  mills  were  erected  to  use  the  water  power  created. 


[26  ] 


BOSTON’S 


GROWTH 


OPPOSITION  TO  PROJECT  AND  CONTRO¬ 
VERSIES  OVER  RIGHTS. 

At  first  there  was  much  opposition  to  Mr.  Cot- 
ting’s  plans,  and  on  June  10,  1814,  in  the  Daily  Ad¬ 
vertiser,  a  citizen  under  the  signature  “Beacon  Street” 
wrote  a  letter  protesting  against  “converting  the 
beautiful  sheet  of  water,  which  skirts  the  Common, 
into  an  empty  muddy  basin,  reeking  with  filth,  ab¬ 
horrent  to  the  smell  and  disagreeable  to  the  eye.” 
Although  Cotting  began  the  work,  he  died  before  its 
‘completion,  and  under  Colonel  Loammi  Baldwin,  his 
successor,  the  Mill  Dam  was  completed  July  2,  1821. 
The  plan  relative  to  Dover  Street  was  not  carried  out. 

The  Mill  Corporation  in  1824  was  divided,  and  the 
Boston  Water  Power  Company  was  chartered  to  pur¬ 
chase  and  hold  any  water  power  of  the  Mill  Cor¬ 
poration.  The  directors  in  both  companies  were  the 
same.  In  1832  the  Boston  Water  Power  Company 
took  the  city  mills’  entire  water  power  and  all  lands 
south  of  the  main  dam,  while  the  Boston  &  Rox- 
bury  Mill  Corporation  retained  the  roads  and  prop¬ 
erty  north  of  the  dam. 

Controversies  soon  arose  between  the  Mill  Corpora¬ 
tion,  the  city  of  Boston,  and  owners  of  the  uplands  bor¬ 
dering  the  basin,  as  to  the  extent  of  flowage  rights. 
The  right  of  owners  abutting  on  the  marsh  lands,  cov¬ 
ered  at  high  tide,  to  fill  and  thus  exclude  flowage  was 
a  further  cause  of  controversv.  These  controversies 

[27] 


BEACON  HILL  FROM  MOUNT  VERNON  NEAR  THE  HEAD  OF  HANCOCK  STREET,  SHOWING  THE 

EXCAVATION  FOR  FILLING  PURPOSES. 

(Drawing  made  on  the  spot  by  J.  R.  Smith.  1R11-12.) 


BOSTONS 


GROWTH 


were  finally  compromised,  and  in  1832  the  Supreme 
Court  established  the  right  of  the  Mill  Corporation. 
When,  however,  the  Boston  &  Providence  and  the  Bos¬ 
ton  &  Worcester  Railroads,  incorporated  in  1831,  pro¬ 
jected  their  roads  across  the  water  basin  of  the  Boston 
Water  Power  Company,  the  latter’s  stock  depreciated 
fifty  per  cent.,  and  strenuous  objections  were  offered 
against  the  laying  out  of  the  roads.  After  some  con¬ 
troversy  the  railroads  succeeded  in  securing  the  con¬ 
cessions  thev  desired. 

«/ 


BACK  BAY  BECOMES  PUBLIC  NUISANCE. 

In  the  mean  time  the  conditions  of  the  Back  Bay  be¬ 
came  a  public  nuisance.  The  city,  prior  to  1827,  had 
held  in  fee  about  one  hundred  acres  of  land,  and  for 
permission  to  drain  into  the  corporation  basin  from 
the  adjoining  territory  ceded  this  land  to  the  Boston 
&  Roxbury  Mill  Corporation.  The  result  was  the  erec¬ 
tion  of  buildings  in  the  surrounding  territory  of  Church 
and  Suffolk  Streets  at  a  grade  which  would  drain  into 
this  basin,  increased,  and  conditions  became  so  bad 
that  the  Back  Bay  was  characterized  as  “an  open 
cesspool.” 

The  State  under  riparian  rights  claiming  the  terri¬ 
tory,  the  city  refusing  to  relinquish  any  of  its  claims, 
and  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  two  corporations 
also  being  in  dispute,  a  commission  was  appointed  by 
the  State,  which  in  1852  made  a  report,  recommending 

[29] 


BOSTON’S 


GROWTH 


that  the  Corporations  should  be  released  from  the  obli¬ 
gations  of  their  rights  to  forever  maintain  mill  and 
water  rights,  and  be  permitted  to  use  their  property 
for  land  purposes.  It  advised  that  all  filling  should  be 
done  with  clean  gravel,  a  perfect  drainage  system 
maintained,  the  streets  constructed  should  be  wide 
and  ample,  and  the  Mill  Dam,  or  Western  Avenue, 
and  all  roads  in  the  territory  should  eventually  be  free 
highways.  The  flats  north  of  the  Mill  Dam  were  in¬ 
cluded  in  these  improvements.  It  was  further  recom¬ 
mended  that  the  receiving  basin  should  be  filled  and 
laid  out,  and  so  disposed  of  as  to  secure  for  it  a  healthy 
and  thrifty  population.  And,  to  prevent  the  territory 
becoming  an  abode  of  filth,  the  commission  in  conclu¬ 
sion  advised  that  the  filling  be  done  by  authority  and 
under  the  direction  of  the  State. 

The  agreement  between  the  Boston  Water  Power 
Company,  the  Boston  &  Roxbury  Mill  Corporation, 
and  the  State,  divided  the  lands  so  that  the  State 
became  the  possessor  of  the  unfilled  lands  north  of  an 
east  and  west  line,  starting  near  the  present  New  York, 
New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad  depot,  and  south  of 
the  Mill  Dam,  while  the  other  companies  took  the 
rest.  Nothing,  however,  was  done,  and  the  nuisance 
continued  to  grow  until  1856,  when  an  agreement  was 
entered  into  between  the  State,  the  city,  which  resisted 
all  attempts  to  deny  its  rights,  and  the  corporations. 
It  called  for  the  building  of  the  sewer  on  Camden 
Street  and  the  filling  in  of  the  lands  of  the  Corpora¬ 
te)  ] 


GROWTH 


BOSTON’S 

J 

tion.  It  was  not,  however,  until  1864,  that  another 
agreement,  known  as  the  Tripartite  agreement,  was 
signed,  which  concluded  the  final  laying  out  of  streets 
and  led  to  the  rapid  prosecution  of  the  work. 

The  area  thus  filled  by  the  agreement  amounted  to 
about  one  hundred  and  eight  acres  of  public  property, 
four  hundred  and  sixty-two  acres  belonging  to  private 
owners  and  corporations.  The  filling  cost,  in  the  ag¬ 
gregate,  $1,640,800.49,  and  yielded  a  gross  income 
from  land  sales,  exclusive  of  all  gifts  of  land,  of 
$4,708,936.28.  The  average  price  of  land  sold  was 
$3.21  a  foot;  the  highest  price,  $5  a  foot;  and  the 
lowest,  $2.75  a  foot.  In  all  about  five  hundred  and 
seventy  acres  were  added  to  the  city  during  the  years 
of  the  filling  from  1857  to  1894. 

FILLING  OF  THE  NORTH  COVE  OR  MILL 

POND. 

The  history  of  the  North  Cove,  or  Mill  Pond,  begins 
on  July  31,  1643,  when  it  was  granted  to  Henry 
Simonds,  John  Button,  and  others,  with  three  hundred 
acres  at  Braintree.  Permission  was  conveyed  to  dig 
one  or  more  trenches  at  Mill  Creek  and  to  bridge  it 
at  Hanover  and  North  Streets  with  the  old  stipula¬ 
tion  that  attended  all  these  dam  rights,  that  one  or 
more  corn-mills  be  erected  and  maintained.  The  pro¬ 
prietors  were  also  permitted  to  maintain  a  gate  ten 
feet  in  width  at  the  dam  for  mill  purposes,  but  it  was 

[31] 


BOSTON’S 


GROWTH 


ordered  that  at  flood-tide  the  gate  must  be  open  for 
the  passage  of  boats,  so  that  they  could  arrive  at  their 
ordinary  landing-places. 

Mills  were  erected  at  the  west  end  of  the  creek  and 
at  either  end  of  the  Causeway.  A  grist-mill  and  a 
saw-mill  stood  at  what  is  now  the  junction  of  Thacher 
and  Endicott.  Streets,  and  a  little  distance  beyond  a 
chocolate  mill  was  later  erected.  Mill  Creek,  which 
cut  off  that  part  of  the  peninsula  at  the  north  to  which 
in  times  past  the  name  Island  of  Boston  was  given, 
became  in  process  of  time  a  canal  with  walls  of  stone 
wide  and  deep  enough  to  permit  the  passage  of  boats 
as  large  as  sloops  from  the  harbor  on  the  east  to  the 
river  on  the  west.  This  right  of  passage  through  the 
creek  had  been  carefully  reserved  in  the  grant  to 
Simonds.  The  canal,  or  Mill  Creek,  eventually  became 
a  part  of  the  Middlesex  Canal  Extension,  which  was 
incorporated  in  1793,  and  at  the  time  its  use  was  dis¬ 
continued  by  vessels  had  an  average  width  of  about 
twenty  feet.  It  was  crossed  by  the  old  mill  bridge 
at  Hanover  Street,  while  at  North  Street  was  a  draw¬ 
bridge,  from  which  that  street  was  sometimes  called 
Drawbridge  Street.  Blackstone  Street  is  now  built 
upon  the  line  of  the  original  creek. 


[32] 


BOSTONS 


GROWTH 


MILL  POND  CORPORATION. 

As  the  heirs  of  the  original  proprietors  increased, 
the  Mill  Pond  Corporation  was  chartered  in  1804  to 
succeed  to  their  rights,  and  steps  were  at  once  taken 
for  the  filling  in  of  the  Mill  Pond.  The  original  obli¬ 
gation  to  maintain  the  mills  and  bridges  forever  was 
repealed  by  a  vote  of  the  town  in  1807.  Permission 
was  given  to  fill  up  the  Mill  Pond,  and  use  the  soil  of 
Copp’s  and  Beacon  Hills  for  the  filling.  A  condition 
of  the  grant  was  that  the  town  should  receive  one- 
eighth  of  all  the  lots  so  filled  within  twenty  years. 
Much  of  the  rubbish  from  the  streets  of  the  neighbor¬ 
hood,  as  well  as  material  from  the  hills,  also  found 
its  way  into  the  Mill  Pond.  An  idea  of  the  amount 
of  material  that  went  into  this  cove,  which  took  twenty- 
five  years  to  fill,  the  work  beginning  in  1807,  may  be 
learned  from  the  fact  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  ex¬ 
cavation  of  Beacon  Hill  for  the  Mill  Pond  the  crest  of 
the  hill  was  level  with  the  rail  at  the  base  of  the  State 
House  dome,  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight  feet  above 
tide-water,  and  was  graded  down  almost  eighty  feet, 
or  to  its  present  level,  in  the  supplying  of  the  mate¬ 
rial  for  the  fill. 

A  great  deal  of  the  work  was  done  between  1824 
and  1829.  About  seventy  acres  were  added  to  Boston, 
including  about  twenty  acres  of  street  surface,  leav¬ 
ing  fifty  acres  for  building  lots,  of  which  the  town  by 
agreement  received  one-eighth.  Much  land  has  since 

[33  ] 


BOSTON’S 


GROWTH 


been  added  beyond  the  Causeway  bv  the  railroad 

e/  t/  «y 

companies  filling  in  the  adjoining  flats  and  by  erecting* 
pile  structures  over  the  Charles  River.  On  the  filled 
land  of  the  old  Mill  Pond  are  now  located  the  ter¬ 
minals,  freight  and  passenger,  of  the  Boston  &  Maine 
Railroad,  the  offices  and  warerooms  of  the  steel  and 
iron  industries,  the  large  baking  and  confectionery  in¬ 
terests,  and  other  enterprises  in  that  vicinity. 

RECLAMATION  OF  THE  TOWN  COVE. 

After  the  completion  of  Long  Wharf  little  was  done 
to  extend  the  city  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Town  Cove 
until  1780,  when  there  was  further  filling  around  Dock 
Square  and  about  the  foot  of  Merchants  Row.  Under 
the  administration  of  Josiali  Quincy,  between  1823 
and  1826,  an  extensive  public  improvement  took 
place  in  the  vicinity  of  Dock  Square.  This  was  the 
filling  in  about  the  Town  Dock  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Faneuil  Hall,  and  the  erection  on  the  made  land 
of  a  granite  market-house,  now  Quincy  Market,  two 
stories  high,  five  hundred  and  thirty-five  feet  long, 
fifty  feet  wide,  covering  twenty-seven  thousand  feet 
of  land,  and  costing  $150,000.  Six  new  streets  were 
added  to  Boston, — South  Market  Street,  North  Mar¬ 
ket  Street,  the  street  leading  to  Long  Wharf  now  con¬ 
stituting  a  part  of  Commercial  Street,  Clinton  Street, 
Roebuck's  Passage,  now  part  of  Merchants  Row,  and 
Chatham  Street. 


[34] 


BOSTON’S 


GROWTH 


As  the  result  of  filling,  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
seven  thousand  square  feet  of  land  and  flats,  and 
dock  and  wharf  rights  to  the  extent  of  one  hundred 
and  forty-two  thousand  square  feet,  were  added  to 
Boston.  The  initial  cause  of  this  improvement  was 
the  crowded  condition  of  the  City  Hall  market-place, 
and  the  total  cost  was  about  $1,100,000.  Mayor 
Quincy  personally  secured  many  of  the  options  on 
the  different  estates  purchased.  The  increased  real 
estate  values,  as  well  as  the  additional  property  se¬ 
cured  by  the  city,  more  than  paid  for  the  whole  im¬ 
provement.  The  accompanying  map  shows  the  extent 
of  the  work.  A  gradual  extension  was  made  in  the 
direction  of  the  bay,  until  finally  the  land  was  com¬ 
pletely  filled  to  the  line  of  Atlantic  Avenue.  Com¬ 
mercial  Street  was  completed  in  1829,  Fulton  Street 
some  years  later. 

Atlantic  Avenue  was  projected  in  1868,  and  the 
filling  completed  in  1874.  The  material  of  which 
Atlantic  Avenue  was  made  came  from  the  cutting 
down  of  Fort  Hill,  which  was  originally  an  eminence 
fifty  feet  high.  With  the  exception  of  Washington 
Street,  this  avenue  was  one  of  the  most  expensive 
streets  ever  laid  out  by  Boston,  the  total  cost  being 
$2,400,000.  The  material  was  brought  in  cars  and 
dumped  on  the  old  docks  along  the  line  of  the  Barri- 
cado,  and  it  is  estimated  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
seven  thousand  five  hundred  and  seventy  cubic  yards 
were  filled  in  between  low  and  high  water  mark  along 

[35] 


BOSTONS 


GROWTH 


the  line  of  the  avenue.  The  filling  completed  the 
reclamation  of  the  one  hundred  and  twelve  acres  of 
the  Town  Cove,  levelled  the  thirteen  acres  of  Fort 
Hill,  and  yielded  valuable  business  land  along  the 
main  harbor  front  of  the  city.  In  the  section  origi¬ 
nally  the  site  of  the  Town  Cove  are  now  to  be  found 
the  market  district  of  the  city,  the  Custom  House, 
much  of  the  warehouse  district  of  Atlantic  Avenue 
and  the  coastwise  steamship  companies,  the  prod¬ 
uce  exchange,  and  much  of  State  Street,  now  as  al¬ 
ways  the  financial  section  of  the  city. 

PUBLIC  GARDEN. 

Another  public  improvement  under  the  adminis¬ 
tration  of  Mayor  Quincy  was  the  securing  for  the  city 
of  the  valuable  tract  now  known  as  the  Public  Garden. 
This  had  been  granted  in  the  year  1794  to  the  pro¬ 
prietors  of  the  rope-walks  between  Pearl  and  Atkinson 
Streets  during  a  time  of  great  excitement  occasioned 
by  the  burning  of  these  rope-walks,  which  had  endan¬ 
gered  the  town.  Accordingly,  the  rope-walks  were 
moved  to  the  site  of  the  Public  Garden,  which  was 
then  known  as  the  rope-walk  lands.  There  were  five 
rope-walks,  and  they  stretched  about  three-fourths  of 
the  distance  along  Charles  Street  in  the  direction  of 
Beacon.  In  their  new  location  the  rope-walks  were 
again  burned  in  1806,  and  an  agitation  was  started 
for  their  renewal.  Although  the  original  grant  to  the 

[36  ] 


BOSTONS 


GROWTH 


rope-walk  proprietors  was  a  conditional  one,  it  became 
necessary  for  the  city  to  secure  from  them  a  quit¬ 
claim  before  it  could  take  title  to  the  property  that 
it  had  formerly  owned.  Release  to  the  whole  tract 
was  given  by  the  rope- walk  proprietors  for  $55,000. 
A  vote  of  the  citizens,  December  27,  1824,  denied  the 
right  of  the  City  Council  to  sell  the  lands,  and  declared 
that  they  should  be  forever  kept  open  and  free  of 
buildings  for  the  use  of  the  citizens.  Thus  was  es¬ 
tablished  the  Public  Garden. 

SOUTH  COVE  AND  THE  SOUTH  COVE 

ASSOCIATES. 

The  South  Cove  development  was  due  to  the  enter¬ 
prise  of  the  South  Cove  Associates,  who  were  incor¬ 
porated  in  1833  with  a  capital  of  $414,500,  the  stock 
of  which  was  divided  into  five-hundred-dollar  shares. 
They  bought  two  million  three  hundred  and  seventy - 
five  thousand  square  feet  of  flats  at  an  average  price 
of  twelve  cents  per  foot,  together  with  such  marsh 
and  upland  at  Roxbury  as  were  necessary  to  protect 
their  rights.  Work  was  begun  in  1836,  and  by  No¬ 
vember,  1839,  fifty-five  acres  had  been  reclaimed, 
and  seventy-seven  finally  added  to  the  city  at  a  cost 
of  $316,084.  Material  for  the  fill  came  from  Roxbury 
and  Dorchester  in  boats  and  from  Brighton  by  rail¬ 
road.  The  fill  required  one  million  five  hundred 
thousand  cubic  yards,  and  involved  the  construc- 

[37] 


BOSTON’S 


G  R  O  W  T  H 


tion  of  three  hundred  and  eighty  feet  of  sea  wall,  and 
three  miles  of  new  streets.  The  Old  Colony  Rail¬ 
road  bought  the  land  where  the  New  York,  New  Haven 
&  Hartford  terminal  now  is,  paying  for  its  land  in 
stock.  The  United  States  Hotel,  subsequently  sold, 

was  erected  on  their  land  bv  the  South  Cove  x4ssoci- 

•/ 

ates.  The  filling  of  the  South  Cove  rescued  from  the 
tide-water  all  of  the  low  land  east  of  Harrison  Ave¬ 
nue  from  Essex  Street  to  South  Boston  Bridge,  and 
added  to  Boston  a  territorv  almost  twice  the  size  of 

t J 

the  Common.  Further  filling  in  the  South  Cove  was 
carried  on  in  1847  under  the  administration  of  Mayor 
Josiah  Quincy,  Jr.,  who  was  given  authority  to  con¬ 
tract  for  filling  the  marsh  lands  known  as  South  Bay 
on  the  southerly  side  of  Boston  Neck. 

FRONT  STREET  CORPORATION. 

The  Front  Street  Corporation,  composed  of  persons 
owning  estates  east  of  Washington  Street  and  south 
of  Beach,  received  its  charter  in  1804.  It  constructed 
a  street  parallel  with  Washington  Street,  called  Front 
Street,  now  Harrison  Avenue,  and  the  owners  of  the 
intervening  flat  lands  did  their  own  filling.  The  filling 
began  in  May,  1804,  and  was  completed  in  October, 
1805.  The  cost  was  $65,000,  and  nine  acres  were 
added  to  the  city.  Additional  filling  also  occurred 
in  this  section  on  lands  which  the  city  owned.  The 
material  for  the  filling  was  from  the  excavation  of 

[38] 


BOSTON’S 


GROWTH 


Fort  Point  Channel,  South  Bay,  and  the  gravel  bank 
near  Willow  Court,  as  well  as  from  gravel  pits  further 
away.  Oliver  Street  was  laid  out  by  the  city  between 
1847  and  1866,  and  Harrison  Avenue  became  the  main 
thoroughfare  of  this  section.  On  the  filled  land  of 
the  South  Cove  are  to  be  found  the  large  railroad 
yards  and  depot  of  the  New  York,  New  Haven  & 
Hartford  system,  many  of  the  city  buildings,  mills, 
factories,  and  lumber  interests;  and  here,  too,  the 
congested  wholesale  district  finds  an  outlet. 

HOW  THE  WEST  COVE  WAS  RECLAIMED. 

A  sea  wall  along  the  line  of  the  Charles  River,  west 
of  the  present  line  of  Brimmer  Street,  made  compara¬ 
tively  easy  the  filling  in  of  the  West  Cove,  particu¬ 
larly  as  most  of  the  material  for  the  filling  came  from 
the  cutting  down  of  West  Hill  and  the  dumping  of 
city  ashes  from  Charles  Street  and  the  vicinity  into 
the  area  between  the  sea  wall  and  the  shore  line. 
The  work  was  begun  in  1803,  and  was  carried  on  in 
a  desultory  way  until  1853,  but  between  1853  and 
1863  it  was  energetically  pushed.  Most  of  the  work 
was  completed  before  1894.  The  section  thus  filled 
reached  from  Beacon  Street  to  Lowell  Street,  and 
comprised  an  area  of  about  eighty  acres,  which  added 
$1,000,000  in  assessed  value  to  the  city.  A  portion  of 
the  filling  on  the  flats  west  of  Charles  Street  was  car¬ 
ried  on  by  the  Mount  Vernon  Proprietors,  who  suc- 

[39] 


MAP  SHOWING  LAND  RECLAIMED  AND  LAND  AVAILABLE  FOR  RECLAMATION 


BOSTON’S 


GROWTH 


ceeded  after  various  sales  to  the  estate  of  John  Single- 
ton  Copley,  the  artist,  who  owned  eighteen  acres  on 
the  west  side  of  Beacon  Street. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  EAST  BOSTON. 

To  the  foresight  and  perseverance  of  General  William 
H.  Sumner  is  due  the  development  of  Noddle’s  Island 
into  that  populous  section  which  is  now  known  as  East 
Boston.  Less  than  eighty  years  ago  East  Boston  was 
a  barren,  treeless  island,  inhabited  by  one  family  and 
surrounded  by  marsh.  It  belonged  to  the  mother  of 
General  Sumner.  When  he  was  but  a  youth  of  nine¬ 
teen,  he  conceived  a  plan  for  the  development  of  East 
Boston,  and  commenced  to  discuss  the  necessary  plans, 
though  it  was  many  years  afterwards  that  the  pro¬ 
ject  actually  took  shape.  He  had  hoped  at  his  moth¬ 
er’s  death  that  it  would  fall  to  his  share,  but  in  1810 
the  estate  was  divided,  and  his  sister  inherited  it. 

East  Boston  comprised  the  island  known  as  Noddle’s 
Island, — which  was  a  part  of  the  original  town  of  Boston, 
which  had  been  granted  by  the  Colonial  Court  April  1, 
1623,  to  Samuel  Maverick, — and  Breed’s  Island.  The 
area  at  the  time  of  its  annexation  to  Boston,  Decem¬ 
ber  7,  1636,  contained  about  six  hundred  and  sixty- 
three  acres.  The  marshes  and  flats  surrounding  it 
included  one  thousand  five  hundred  acres.  The  General 
Court  had  already  declared  on  May  13,  1640,  that  the 
neighboring  island,  Breed’s  Island,  and  marshes  be- 

[41] 


BOSTON’S 


GROWTH 


longed  to  Noddle’s  Island.  For  a  time  General  Sumner 
was  content  to  manage  the  estate  for  his  sister.  Finally , 
however,  he  organized  in  May,  1833,  the  East  Boston 
Company,  raising  the  necessary  money  to  buy  the 
island,  for  $80,000.  So  little  did  a  Mr.  Williams,  who 
was  one  of  the  tenant  farmers  who  had  grown  rich  on 
the  island,  think  of  the  project  of  dividing  it  into  city 
lots,  that  he  refused,  with  derision,  an  offer  of  an 
acre  if  he  would  put  up  a  house  on  it. 

In  the  laying  out  of  the  property,  four  acres  were 
set  apart  for  schools,  engine-houses,  and  burying- 
grounds.  The  first  dwelling-house  was  erected  by  Guy 
C.  Haynes,  and  occupied  by  him  in  September,  1833. 
The  first  public  sale  of  lands  netted  $86,000,  a  profit 
of  $6,000  over  the  purchase  price.  The  island  had 
been  valued  the  same  year  at  $60,000. 

The  aggregate  area  reclaimed  by  the  East  Boston 
Company  is  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  acres,  and 
the  principal  filling  has  been  between  1880  and  the 
present.  Much  work  has  been  done  on  the  Parkway 
lands  by  removing  one  hundred  and  eighty  thousand 
cubic  yards  of  earth  from  Eagle  Hill,  near  Meridian 
Street,  to  these  lands. 

Many  of  the  flats  around  East  Boston  are  in  pro¬ 
cess  of  reclamation  either  by  the  State,  the  city,  or 
railroad  and  private  interests  which  own  the  involved 
territory.  The  location  on  the  Main  Ship,  Gover¬ 
nor’s  Island  and  Winthrop  Channels  makes  this  land 
of  much  value  to  Boston. 


[42] 


BOSTON’S 


GROWTH 


RECLAMATIONS  OF  THE  COMMONWEALTH 

AND  OTHER  FLATS. 

The  reclamation  of  the  Commonwealth  Flats  in 
South  Boston  began  about  the  same  time  that  the  South 
Cove  and  Front  Street  corporations  commenced  to  fill 
the  opposite,  or  Boston,  side  of  Fort  Point  Channel. 
Much  of  the  refuse  of  the  great  Boston  fire  was  used  here. 
The  section  known  as  the  Commonwealth  Flats  in 
South  Boston  is  owned  by  the  Commonwealth  of  Massa¬ 
chusetts,  and  contains  about  five  hundred  and  ninety- 
three  acres.  It  lies  adjoining  the  main  ship  channel, 
and  the  filling  is  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  Bos¬ 
ton’s  harbor  facilities. 

A  substantial  sea  wall,  finished  in  January,  1894, 
had  reclaimed  and  enclosed  about  two  hundred  and 
sixty-two  acres  of  the  Commonwealth  Flats  by  an 
average  fill  of  eighteen  feet.  The  New  York,  New 
Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad  already  own  eighty-seven 
acres,  and  the  land  will  probably  yield  to  the  Com¬ 
monwealth  a  clear  profit  of  from  $3,000,000  to  $4,- 
000,000.  The  whole  section  will  probably  furnish  sites 
for  warehouses,  factories,  and  wharves. 

Work  is  also  being  done  on  the  South  Bay  by  the 
State,  railroad,  and  private  interests.  Work  is  also 
in  progress  along  the  shore  front  of  Charlestown.  Re¬ 
cent  notable  fillings  have  been  those  of  the  Charles 
River  Embankment  and  of  the  Charles  River  Basin. 
The  development  of  the  future  will  be  in  the  nature 

[43] 


BOSTON’S 


G  R  O  W  T  H 


of  increasing  the  harbor  facilities.  If  all  the  possible 
improvements  are  carried  out  along  the  different  lines 
that  have  been  suggested,  Boston  Harbor  develop¬ 
ments  in  the  future  will  be  very  extensive. 


ORIGINAL  AREA  AND  FILLING  OF  BOSTON  IN  ACRES. 
Corrected  to  September  1,  1910. 

[From  Bulletin  of  the  Statistics  Department,  City  of  Boston,  Vol.  XII.,  Nos.  4,  5 

and  6.] 

Total 
area  to 

Original  Filled  Ward 


land. 

land. 

Land. 

Flats. 

Water. 

Lines.. 

Boston  Proper . 

Annexed  Territory: 

East  Boston: 

.  .  .  783 

1,121 

1,904 

~ 

400 

2,304 

Noddle’s  Island  .  .  . 

.  .  .  650 

110 

760 

200 

36 

996 

Breed’s  Island 

.  .  .  785 

— 

785 

21 

123 

929 

South  Boston . 

.  .  1,333 

538 

1,333 

586 

93 

2,012 

Roxbury . 

.  .  .  2,450 

322 

2,772 

121 

43 

2,936 

Dorchester . 

.  .  .  5,600 

9 

5,609 

530 

92 

6,231 

West  Roxbury  . 

.  .  .  8,075 

— 

8,075 

— 

45 

8,120 

Brighton . 

.  .  .  2,664 

1 

2,665 

— 

94 

2,759 

Charlestown  . 

.  .  .  424 

416 

840 

88 

149 

1,077 

22,764 

2,517 

24,743 

1,546 

1,075 

27,364 

POPULATION  AT  DIFFERENT  PERIODS. 

It  will  be  interesting  in  conclusion  to  glance  at  some 
of  the  figures  of  population  from  the  beginning  to  the 
present. 

The  early  population  of  Boston  is  in  doubt,  for  all 
estimates  prior  to  the  beginning  of  the  Federal  Census 
in  1790  are  only  approximate.  Thus  the  early  esti¬ 
mated  population  was  one  hundred  and  fifty  in  1638; 
in  1675,  four  thousand;  in  1722,  according  to  a  census 

[44  ] 


BOSTON’S 


GROWTH 


taken  by  the  town,  it  was  ten  thousand  five  hundred 
and  sixty -seven;  in  1765  a  census  taken  by  the  Colony 
reported  fifteen  thousand  five  hundred  and  twenty; 
while  ten  years  later  a  census  taken  by  General  Gage 
at  the  time  of  the  British  occupation  in  1775  showed 
only  six  thousand  four  hundred  and  seventy -three. 
Between  1775  and  1776  there  was  quite  an  exodus  of 
the  families  who  desired  to  get  out  of  Boston  before 
its  siege  by  the  Patriots,  so  that  the  population  in 
1776  as  taken  by  the  Colony  was  but  two  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  nineteen.  In  1781  it  had  jumped 
again  to  ten  thousand,  and  in  1784  to  fifteen  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  seventy -six,  while  in  1789  an  es¬ 
timated  census  taken  by  the  town  shows  seventeen 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighty. 

When  the  act  was  passed  establishing  the  City  of 
Boston  on  February  23 ,  1822,  including  annexations, 
the  population  of  Boston  was  about  forty-three  thou¬ 
sand.  The  total  number  of  votes  cast  at  the  town 
meeting  to  decide  the  question  of  whether  Boston 
should  become  a  city  was  four  thousand  six  hundred 
and  seventy-eight,  of  which  two  thousand  seven  hun¬ 
dred  and  ninety- seven  voted  “Yes”  and  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  eighty-one  against  the  acceptance 
of  the  City  Charter.  Nine  hundred  and  sixteen  was 
therefore  the  majority  by  which  Boston  became  a  city. 

The  following  table  shows  the  population  of  Boston 
proper,  and  its  annexations  from  its  beginning  to  the 
last  census: — 


[45] 


POPULATION  OF  BOSTON,  1638-1905. 


03  .  . 
®  ECO 
t-  te 

5  o00 


O 


c 

o  • 
co 

JS  b~ 

b£00 

’E-1 

« 


>> 

*3  (-  • 

33  3  CO 
Oj2N 
>  X°0 

O  1 
a» 


0! 

<5 

O 

1-H 

< 

X 

H 

S5 

Z 

< 


o  CD 
J3  X 

o ^ 

t-  . 

O  C 

Q  £ 


3  b» 
.O  CO 
*00 


©  I 

x’E 

V  u 

C  03 


F-H 

•OKJO 

.  CO  ^  o  *— I 

•  CO 

.Tt< 

co 

•  CO  <N  Tt< 

•  00  lO  »o  03 

•00 

•00 

o 

•cot^cq 

•  in  r»  o>iq 

•  r- 

•  rq 

of 

’  •*  y-t 

Ii-Tn’-^’o 

:oo* 

• 

#  rH 

-  (N  N  — 1 

•  iji 

•00  COO 

•b- 

>» 

■ONOO 

•  IN 

t- 

o 

-+3 

led 

o 

•coco 

■ONOi|i 

•  •<# 

•  10 

<o 

•  —I  tc  co 

•  N-^eooo 

•  r^ 

CO 

•  *qoqo_ 

•  b-  co  o  cq 

•  o 

•00 

rH 

;  i-T  i-T  cd 

;  i—I  cd  cd  co’ 

•COO  o 

•  co  io  o  in 

•03 

X 

•CO  *0*0 

•<N  CO  CO  CO 

•Tl< 

•00 

•  ^  o  ^ 

•«NOH 

•IN 

•  o_ 

rH 

,  H  H  Cl 

;  <N  in’  co’  rjT 

]in 

led 

OON 

oo 

CO  b- 


N 

•  1C 

•  CD 

iO 

m 

o 

co 

co 

N 

rH 

C3 

co 

I  — 

•  (N 

•  ID 

03 

t- 

io 

o 

c 

C3 

N 

co 

c 

3 

03 

•CO 

00 

co 

00 

o 

IN 

co 

m 

o 

o 

IN 

00 

|  rH 

:  csT 

cd 

cd 

cd 

co’ 

co' 

00 

cd 

in 

03’ 

rH 

rH 

rH 

r— 1 

N 

N 

C  i-*0  ...  03<N 

2  g.«o  o2 

°^©2  p 


O  h 
«Ph 


to 


OOOCCMN^OMOOOOOOiOtO 
iCOOiOOcOXMNNHOMIOCOiOOi 
HOONCiOMNiOLON  <3  00  00  O  CD  00 

-  ^~t^COrHOCOtfJ.OcO<NO'iOt>od-'t<N 
—  _  —  —Hi— li— li— It— I  r-IHHHNM 


CO 

O 

© 

co 

to 


COOiOC3fo;D— iCOOO-tflNCO 
rtOcDOiO)iOCONT)<OiO« 

<n  o_  co  MWNcq  co_  eo_  cq  cq 
rdHiocoodedcoidodcd  ©  o' 

’-"N<N<NINCOCOCOCO'*f<'*}<CO 


N©IN©CO<NTbb-i-iCO© 

^H-H^oOOOCO(MOCOCOf^ 

oococscot-o-q  o^t-;©*© 
co*  co  oo  r*  ■ -d  td cd  bd  -d 

hhhNWCO^1 

* 


OOONHOOOt'OOOMH 
CO^fcO*— •OOOO-hcOCOO'— ' 
OS  cq  b-  f-  IN  t>  00  b-  CO_  0_  rf  © 

td  00  C3  ©  cd  io‘  bd  o'  o'  in  bd  o 
?hhhhWN^NO> 
-1  * 


■^ONCDMOMiOrHOOMH 

©©C0IN»-0<N<NcCt-'0CO3CO 

co^i-h  o  tf  cccm 

00  00  io’  00  Tb  ©  td  io’  00  cd  »C  -d 

rtHNNKHOiOCONOOH 


COOOOO^NIOiOOtCIONhiON 

Tjcococoot^w^iocoio'^r^coo 

WOMHHNNNNNNHIOCOO 


CO  l>  ID  CO  rf  1-11 
HNCO^iO' 


1 1-1  lO  CO  CO  CO  (N 
lOrtiroomoN 
MNNNOCOCO^ 


a 

—  o 
— c  -*> 
<2  to 
^  O 
C3 


Washing¬ 
ton  Vil¬ 
lage,  1855. 

. 05 . 

•  ••••••••••••■•■  ••••••••  rH  •••••••••• 

. co . 

. ! . !!!!!!!...  .H . 

. .  •  ■  •  . . . 

-  C  . 

•  •  Tt< 

•  CD 

•i0C0OC3<N-HC0»0t^03Ttii-iC003C0 

•  •  LO 

•00 

•C3b-NO*— iNCOi— '^fCOCOCC^CCO 

3  |o 

•  ■  CO 

•C3 

■lOi— IOCOC303CON— iCOiCb-O30C^r 

O  §00 

rH 

;  id  cb  c  cd  cd  Tf  os’  C3  rd  co"  h  co"  b- 

.  rH  rH  rH  (M  CO  IO  ID  CD  CD  CD  CD  CD 

-  * 

N  N  03 

•Tf 

•ifSNiOOOOONinO!  -CO  00  • 

43  73 

00  00  1-H 

•co 

■itNONmOOOlN^CO  -ON  • 

Js  a 

n  in  in 

•IN 

•COONCOiOOCONOiiOH  •  <N  • 

H 

H  HHHHHC1  .  03  d 

^  p-4  M  ,  . 

M 

•* 

•  -00 

•H 

•b— ^OOOCDCOcONCOOi— ‘000300^#! 

•  •  rH 

•  N 

•  oiOi-MNeoiot^T-nNooooeooob-eo 

ffl  O* 
o3  ^^2 

•  CO  -^O  lOrb  CO  >o  00  CO  IN  C3  oq -^cq 

a  S'0 

i-T  io  03  icd  oo  o  co’  td  od  cd  co’  03’  co’  —1 

1-1 1-H  IN  IN  N  IN  N  CO  CO  t*  m 

.  CO 

t>-uOCO^COCOCO'-'0>OOOOOb-CO 
lOt-CONOcOOOOOCOh-OOCO'l'iOb- 
O  rb  ©  b-  IN  lO  ©  b-^  cq  ©  -h  CO  CO  IN  Tb 

edi'dcsedcocdi-dodordbd.d'obd  cd 

t^oooi-KNeo-^cO'f^'^cococot- 


■ONNOOMNMCOCOhOOOOCOOOMNONO 

•NMOOONOOQOCOCOO^rtlN^MaNINOOO 

•  coo  b-w  <N  coco  coco  oo  ^oocqiqojqeq^ooqeq 

!  00  r)<'  cd  CO  00  --  00  co’  co’  O  N  O  —'  N  c’  oo’  co’  o’  io’ 
.r-uNMOiOCONOHCOCONOO'^OO^OCDO 
Hrtr3i-i^C|COcOCOi#OiOiO 


I  43 

c  8 

<j  e 

“•a 

■S  8 

*s 

so 

eg 

fc  43 

S  g 

CQ  o 

oo  g> 

e  § 

&2  § 

■X3  00 
4> "e 

•ts  8 
8  e 

*»  £ 
>8.5 

~  8 

5  3 

8  H 

•<s> 

6C 

V. 

O  ®o 

6J  ,e° 
6J  • 

co 

^>s 

o  o 


$8 
^  8 
•<s>  i 

aS 

8 

O  C3 

8 

o 

■*o 

60  • 

C§: 


8  ^ 

•2  g 
e  £ 

’3  s'* 

a§-§ 

h  ^ 

ggS 
•w«.~  a 


2-W  8 

§  §  o 

3  »  o 

«  fe  8 

s  so  <» 

«e  <a 

V  0^5 

•3  « -g 
►8-8  2 
Cs-“  S 

•IS 

<**  O)  60 

e  so  ■“ 

^  e-2 
•fecT-2 

^  I 

2  8 

§  ® 

•8  8  ta 

8^ 

£  5  • 

SR® 

SO  O  ,2 

-ts 

8*e  »> 

s  g 


•8’-'. 

S' 


e 

s 

A 

8 

P. 


03 

o 

03 

Z 

H 

o 


.  GO 

.  m 

.  m 

.  GO 

.  m 

.  GO 

•  w 

1 

.  -*-s  +3 

.  O 

.  0 

.  HH 

.  O 

.  -JH 

.  O 

.  -4-3 

.  0 

.  -4H 

.  O 

.  -4-3 

.  0 

-H3 

. .  0 

. 43^434343 

,  ci  tz  ci  c3 

-M  -*d>  ^ 

. 

.  c3 

HH 

.  & 

& 

-4d> 

.  c8 

<3 

-4-3 

.  C3 

-4-3 

£1 

■xjixfimm 

•m 

•02 

■m 

•02 

•02 

•02 

•02 

a 

. O  O  O  O 

. j jjflOfiflc 

:’0'0’0’0 

•T) 

•T) 

•T) 

■T3 

•T3 

■•a 

"O 

. fl  fl  Ct  TT"r 

3  43  43  43  43 

O 

<D 

C 

171  © 

m  © 

ai  © 

a 

— 

. OOo2o22£cCDDC.'t^*D,'t^C3 

.  m 

.  0> 

-u 

eS 

-u 

;cq 

”3 
v 

-*-s 
cC  c  c3 


03 


© 


HHHPLHO^PLHflHH£&PPO£OPOU>a2£>02£cG£c»£>GG£>«2 


n 

•— 

c3 

43 


OOiOOOifONNNiOiO©Hi#OOOOOiOOiOOiflOIOOiffO>COiCOlOOiO 

CONOO(MOt)iiO!ONNMOOOOOOi-IMNMMt)iiJiiOiOCOCONNXOOOOOO 

COCOCOt>Ot^I>t^t^t^f^t^f^I>t^OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOXOOOOOOOOOOOO 


SO'tJ 
«  8 
8  o 

t. 

'a 
s?  2 

s  2 

so  8 


co 


1  Estimated.  *  Included  in  South  Boston  after  1855.  *  Including  Islands. 


I.'U 


triM 

.  \  \i 

'  'Kit 


*. 


# 


H 

i 


